The World Is Not Enough
by Jewel Insert Witty Name Here
Summary: Before he became entangled with her, the world had been simple. He had know who to love and who to hate. Had known where his loyalties lied. Then, after he fell under her spell, the world hadn't been enough."


**The World Is Not Enough  
A Harry Potter Fanfiction  
By Jewel**

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters were created by JK Rowling, and are copyrighted to the rightful owners. There is no copyright infringement intended by this fanfiction.

Summary: "Before he became entangled with her, the world had been simple. He had know who to love and who to hate. Had known where his loyalties lied. Then, after he fell under her spell, the world hadn't been enough."

Rated PG for themes. General spoilers apply.

See 'author's notes' at the end.

**Special Note: the following timeline is a fragmented one. It jumps back and forth in time, nothing is told in sequential order. To make things easier, and since FFN always screws up my spacing, I've included italics for the time jumps. The present, the here-and-now, will always be in regular font. Everything else is from the past.**

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1/1)

_For a long time the world was simple. There was good and there was bad. Then there was her. With her taunting smile and knowing eyes and quick wit and unwavering persistence. And after her, there was chaos, pure and absolute in the destruction of my carefully structured world..._

It hurt, more than he had ever imagined it could. A simple word, uttered in carelessness, and then the agonizing pain. He writhed on the cold floor, mindless to anything outside the pain in the aftermath of his punishment. 

"Say it!" They demanded, snarling at him. "Say it or we will set the dementors on you again!"

He opens his eyes, stares at them, unwilling to break. He does not say anything. Silence settles over the room like heavy velvet, weighing everyone down. They all glare back at him. And then the pain begins again.

_"I can't tell you," she says, a frown marring her smooth brow. "I can't trust you."_

_He doesn't bother to contradict her. Instead he turns away, takes out his wand and points it at himself. Then he's gone._

The pain is fading, or he's going numb. All that matters is that he can't feel it anymore. All that matters is that he's one step closer to oblivion. And she's almost safe.

_Her kiss is cool against his heated forehead. She whispers, "Sorry I couldn't be here sooner. I had to stay away. I couldn't afford to make anyone suspicious."_

_He looks at her through a foggy haze that has settled over his vision. She looks so far away, but her hand is resting on his. He doesn't speak. She doesn't speak. And for the rest of the night they just stare at each other._

There it is again. He's almost gone from it. Now it's a distant memory quickly fading away.

_"Do you love me?"' He asks, his eyes downcast, staring at the ground between their feet._

_She doesn't hesitate to answer, "Yes."_

_He knows that she's only lying. There was a time that he would have cared. Would have been outraged by her lies. Hurt by her deceit. But he's pass caring about honestly anymore. There's no barrier between right and wrong. Why should he care if she's lying or being truthful? There's no black, no white._

_"Promise me," he begs, "Promise me that after this is all over, after the end, promise that you'll still love me."_

_He doesn't mind that he's emotionally blackmailing her. After the lengths he's gone to, he's only in this for himself anymore._

_And she steps right up next to him, wraps her arms around him, and promises, "I will love you for all eternity."_

_He closes his eyes. He doesn't care that she's using him, because in his own way he's using her, too._

"We'll find out one way or another," they tell him. He can barely hear them, he's drifting further and further away from the pain. Away from life.

_She stirs in his embrace. Absently he tightens his hold on her._

_Undeterred, she eventually pulls away and goes to stand beside the one, small window._

_Silhouetted against the dark, her skin shines palely, and he takes a second to appreciate her beauty. Dark hair tumbles down her back in wayward curls._

_It's on the tip of his tongue to blurt out 'I love you.' Instead he rolls out of the bed and begins searching for his clothes. "You should rest," he says gruffly. "Dawn will be here in a hour."_

When she sees him, nothing about her countenance gives away her reaction. He can't tell if she's shocked or horrified. Maybe, he thinks darkly, maybe she's happy. But it's almost as if she doesn't know him. Except his name slips off her tongue. Not with the purr of a lover, but the contempt of an enemy.

"We're almost done with him," they tell her. She nods. Then they talk for a few minutes, in low, hushed tones that he can't hear.

Then they're leaving. Black robes fluttering about them as they file out the dark, dank chamber.

Gingerly she kneels beside him. She reaches out a hand, brushes it against his forehead, pushing strands of ashe blonde hair away from his eyes.

_"I'm sorry about before," he says. "I didn't mean to... It just happened."_

_For a second she's quiet. He almost thinks that he's won. Finally she's at a lost for words. Maybe there is a flaw in her plan._

_Then she says, "Don't concern yourself about that. We have other things to worry about right now."_

_And he lets it go._

"You didn't tell them anything," she says, and she manages to sounds surprised. She doesn't ask why. Instead she says, "Thank you."

She says, "If this could have been accomplished in any other way, I would have done it."

She stays with him through the rest of the night. She doesn't say sorry. She doesn't lie to him.

When the sun grips the horizon and looks ready to launch itself into the sky, she pulls her wand out. From far away he hears her call to him.

"I love you," he says.

Smiling, she replies, "I know."

Struggling to keep his eyes open, desperate to cling to life for a few more moments, he looks to the window, set high on the wall. Turning his head in her lap, he looks up at her. With a pale imitation of his old smirk, he says, "Forever is almost over."

_For as long as he could remember, the world was simple. There was good and bad. Right and wrong. Black and white. There were friends and there were enemies. No one could ever be both to you. There was your lover and then there was the one you loved, and they would never be the same person. For so long, everything was divided into clear sections, with everything labeled._

_Then there was her. With her smile and taunting jabs carefully crafted to pull him off his high horse. With her devious grin and soft kisses, designed to bring him to his knees. To shove him to the ground and make him enjoy crawling in the dirt to please her. With her perfect plan, drafted with one purpose in mind: to win a war._

_His world his been rigidly structured, with no room for variation. And then she crashed through his life and shattered everything he ever believed in._

_He had known the path in life he would traverse. His life had been perfectly mapped out. And then she had changed his views on everything. Made him into a traitor. Branded him her enemy even as she made him her lover._

_At first he had used her, too. Used her to find a part of himself he had never known. Used him to try to make himself feel complete. Feel loved._

_Then he had been in love with her, completely and absolutely. Then he had been willing to die to protect her. To protect her plan._

Then she had said those beautiful words that he had spent a lifetime waiting to hear.

"I love you," she had said. And staring into her brown eyes, he had known, with a strange jolt, that she wasn't lying this time.

Then she had pressed her wand against his throat. And as a tear slid down her cheek, she said, "_Avada Kedavra_."

* * *

_  
Before he became entangled with her, the world had been simple. He had know who to love and who to hate. Had known where his loyalties lied._

_Then, after he fell under her spell, the world hadn't been enough._

END

Author's Notes:

This originally started out as the sequel of a sequel of a 'fic that had nothing to do with Draco or Hermione. Then, after the first two sentences, I knew that this had to be a Draco/Hermione 'fic. My muse wouldn't have it any other way.

For the record, Draco is quite dead. Hermione killed him.

There might be a sequel to this. It would not be Draco/Hermione, obviously. But I think I like I would like to further explore the direction this took.

Reviews save kittens! Okay, maybe not. But they do make me happy.

Jewel  
04.28.2005


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